Administering faith: Does the religious institution administering a school influence educational achievement?

Abstract

Australia’s education landscape is almost unique among developed nations in having a high proportion of students taught at non-government schools by a diverse range of religious providers, which receive relatively high levels of government funding. It therefore offers the ideal setting for a study on the outcomes achieved by students at schools administered by the major faith providers relative to their peers in government institutions. We take advantage of a six-year panel of nationwide academic test data, along with a comprehensive suite of control variables, to test whether there are differences in average school performance. We find strong evidence to suggest that significant differences in achievement exist between various faith-based providers that cannot be explained solely with reference to educational advantage and prior performance.